Through a mix of traditional and digital marketing experiences, advisory and hands on work in multiple verticals, and a mix of techno-geek and strategic thinker, I take the broad view on what trends mean, and make them relevant to CMOs. Follow me on Twitter @minicooper, or circle me on Google+.

The Pace of Post Digital From Olympics to Olympics: Digital Disruption Comes to TV

In less than a year, the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics will be history. I am getting a jump on the news memes about these Olympics, based on what I learned about digital media and the London 2012 Games at Adobe’s Strategic Advisory Council on Digital Video. What I learned there was remarkable.

The audience is clearly shifting to digital viewing. In recapping the digital Olympics, BBC and NBC shared with us some amazing things. As recently as the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010, the iPad did not exist as an option. For the 2012 Summer Games in London, nearly 25% of digital traffic came from tablet computers.

Digital video is getting advertisers’ attention. Unlike past years where digital marketing was a component of a larger media buy, marketers were clamoring for digital inventory against the video that were playing online during the summer Olympic games. While the numbers were small compared to overall sponsorships, that they were bought, not sold, represents a major mind shift by marketers. And the revenue would have been higher if there were more inventory available, but the video streams were sold out across the board.

TV Everywhere authentication highlights which screen matters most. According to Adobe, there were 88 million authentications of Adobe Pass to view the London Olympics. Beyond the Games, an amazing 97% of authenticated streams for a programmer whose apps target children under the age of 18 come through iOS.

Forrester has been tracking the changes in all industries, not just media, caused by digital disruption of traditional business models. My colleague James McQuivey, Ph. D. just wrote a book call Digital Disruption which will be out later this month, which reads like a handbook of what TV executives and their marketing partners should be thinking about in the next 2 years. “Two years!?!” you say? Yes, two years. The fundamentals of disruption will happen faster than many have predicted, as:

Marketers value digital video as a part of their TV budget. Witnessed by the Olympic demand, digital is a more important to marketers every year. Nielsen’s growing ability to measure value audiences across platforms, coupled with the networks’ desire to get closer to a census-level measurement capability for broadcast, will accelerate the growth of digital and linear ad spend. From Starcom to Group M, the media researchers are sharpening their pencils to make sense of the variety of data to support video beyond the linear model.

TV bypass options expand and multiply. Beyond Hulu and Apple TV, new sources of over-the-top video are coming on strong, like Aereo. Aereo delivers broadcast over IP bypassing the QAM-based distributors. Just one more way in which the tightly controlled TV market is creating new access points that entertain consumers on their own terms.

Creative new content will come on the scene. Webisodes were one an afterthought, but production quality and star power have made this medium grow. Couple that with no-season launches of shows like House of Cards that launch as a bundle rather than a serial series on a primetime schedule, and you drive the power of consumption and high-demand content right into the hands of consumers.

The remaining thing that is left is adoption of app-laden smart TVs from Samsung and supposedly from Apple, and the broader adoption of TV Everywhere, allowing consumers to use their pay TV subscription on computers and tablets. Note that LG just bought WebOS from HP for use in their TV sets – another pointer to investment in a disruptive TV experience.

What do you think the timing is for marketers to adopt these new advertising habits? That revenue shift will determine the true timing of changes that are coming down the, um, pipe.

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